Birding Singapore 26 th May 2016

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1 Birding Singapore 26 th May 2016 Text & Photos by Lim Kim Seng Male Greater Green Leafbird foraging in a fig tree at MacRitchie Reservoir. Photo Lim Kim Seng Ben Bell, a birder from New Zealand, and I tried our best but it was an unusually quiet morning for the owls with only two distant Sunda Scops Owls and three Brown Hawk Owls in inaccessible locations. Eventually, we got to MacRitchie Reservoir just as it was getting light and dwn chorus broke. We had the usual noisy Greater Racket-tailed Drongo, Olive-winged Bulbul, Dark-necked Tailorbird and Pin-striped Tit-babbler out and about in semi-darkness. The sun rose and we saw lots of swiftlets and green pigeons moving about as well as a flock of Long-tailed Parakeets. We decided to camp at a grove of fig trees by the golf course. Sure enough, the birds were just getting warmed up. We saw Lineated and Coppersmith barbets, Pink-necked Green Pigeon, Yellow-vented and Asian Red-eyed Bulbuls, Asian Glossy Starling, Javan Myna, Asian Fairy-bluebird and Greater Green Leafbird. It was a good half an hour spent as we also saw Stork-billed, White-throated and Collared Kingfishers as we returned to the forest. Back in the forest by 8.15 am, we climbed up Jelutong Tower and waited for bird activity. We saw Chestnut-bellied Malkoha, Blue-throated Bee-eater, Orange-bellied Flowerpecker, and Brown-throated,

2 Van Hasselt s and Crimson Sunbirds. The walk out was uneventful. It was a good morning still as we recorded 39 species despite the gloomy weather. Over-wintering Little Egrets at a pond at Sungei Buloh. Photo Lim Kim Seng It rained after we got out of the forest so we decided to go for breakfast. After that, we had a short drive to Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve. Our first spot was the new Coastal Trail where we saw Oriental Dollarbird but only glimpses of fly-by Copper-throated Sunbirds. Next, we checked out the visitor centre by a family of Common Fruit Bats and the usual Malayan Water Monitors. At the river, we saw an Estuarine Crocodile, a Grey Heron and some Little Egrets. There were also some Little Egrets at the main hide but no waders as most had departed for their northern breeding grounds. We walked to the coast and found more over-wintering Little and Great Egrets, White-bellied Sea Eagle, Little Tern and Ashy Tailorbird. Back at the visitor centre, we detoured to the mangrove boardwalk where we had great looks at a male Copper-throated Sunbird. Lunch was next and it was followed by a very short drive to Kranji Marshes. It was only 2 pm and very warm. We walked the long road to the marshes and were greeted by White-throated Kingfisher, Common Flameback, Long-tailed Parakeet, Pied Triller, Malaysian Pied Fantail, Baya Weaver and Scalybreasted Munia. At the ponds, we saw Purple Heron, Intermediate Egret, White-bellied Sea Eagle, Common Moorhen, Red-wattled Lapwing, Little Tern, Lesser Coucal and Yellow-bellied Prinia. The walk

3 back was tiring in the heat and humidity but we were cheered by a pair of Changeable Hawk Eagle. This proved to be our most fruitful spot as we recorded 41 species in just 90 minutes. Our last spot was Bukit Batok Nature Park. It was rather quiet when we got there but we soon saw the clowns of the park a flock of White-crested Laughingthrushes. There were ten of them. We walked all the way to the quarry pond where we waited for our target, the globally threatened Straw-headed Bulbul, to appear. Unfortunately, there was no sign of this large bulbul. After some time, we moved back to the playground where we saw a White-throated Kingfisher. We saw a movement below the kingfisher and found it to be a Straw-headed Bulbul! It was a party of five birds that were grooming themselves. What a fitting finale to a wonderful day of birding! Despite the lack of migrants, we managed to record 82 species of birds, as well as some interesting wildlife such as Long-tailed Macaque, Malayan Water Monitor and Estuarine Crocodile. The globally threatened Straw-headed Bulbul at Bukit Batok Nature Park. Photo Lim Kim Seng

4 A Checklist of the Birds Recorded in Singapore on 26 th May 2016 Nomenclature, sequence and taxonomy follow IOC. Species highlighted in yellow indicate those that were heard only. # English Name Scientific Name 1 Red Junglefowl Gallus gallus 2 Striated Heron Butorides striata 3 Grey Heron Ardea cinerea 4 Purple Heron Ardea purpurea 5 Great Egret Ardea alba 6 Intermediate Egret Egretta intermedia 7 Little Egret Egretta garzetta 8 Black-winged Kite Elanus caeruleus 9 Changeable Hawk-Eagle Nisaetus cirrhatus 10 Brahminy Kite Haliastur indus 11 White-bellied Sea Eagle Haliaeetus leucogaster 12 White-breasted Waterhen Amaurornis phoenicurus 13 Common Moorhen Gallinula chloropus 14 Red-wattled Lapwing Vanellus indicus 15 Little Tern Sternula albifrons 16 Rock Dove Columba livia 17 Red Turtle Dove Streptopelia tranquebarica 18 Spotted Dove Spilopelia chinensis 19 Zebra Dove Geopelia striata 20 Pink-necked Green Pigeon Treron vernans 21 Lesser Coucal Centropus bengalensis 22 Chestnut-bellied Malkoha Phaenicophaeus sumatranus 23 Asian Koel Eudynamys scolopaceus 24 Little Bronze Cuckoo Chrysococcyx minutillus 25 Banded Bay Cuckoo Cacomantis sonneratii 26 Plaintive Cuckoo Cacomantis merulinus 27 Rusty-breasted Cuckoo Cacomantis sepulcralis 28 Square-tailed Drongo-Cuckoo Surniculus lugubris 29 Sunda Scops Owl Otus lempiji 30 Brown Hawk-Owl Ninox scutulata 31 Oriental Dollarbird Eurystomus orientalis 32 Stork-billed Kingfisher Pelargopsis capensis 33 White-throated Kingfisher Halcyon smyrnensis 34 Collared Kingfisher Todiramphus chloris 35 Blue-throated Bee-eater Merops viridis 36 Lineated Barbet Megalaima lineata

5 37 Coppersmith Barbet Megalaima haemacephala 38 Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker Dendrocopus moluccensis 39 Banded Woodpecker Chrysophlegma miniaceum 40 Laced Woodpecker Picus vittatus 41 Common Flameback Dinopium javanense 42 Rufous Woodpecker Micropternus brachyurus 43 Blue-crowned Hanging Parrot Loriculus galgulus 44 Long-tailed Parakeet Psittacula longicauda 45 Common Iora Aegithina tiphia 46 Pied Triller Lalage nigra 47 Black-naped Oriole Oriolus chinensis 48 Greater Racket-tailed Drongo Dicrurus paradiseus 49 Malaysian Pied Fantail Rhipidura javanica 50 House Crow Corvus splendens 51 Straw-headed Bulbul Pycnonotus zeylanicus 52 Red-whiskered Bulbul Pycnonotus jocosus 53 Yellow-vented Bulbul Pycnonotus goiavier 54 Olive-winged Bulbul Pycnonotus plumosus 55 Asian Red-eyed Bulbul Pycnonotus brunneus 56 Pacific Swallow Hirundo tahitica 57 Yellow-bellied Prinia Prinia flavicentris 58 Common Tailorbird Orthotomus sutorius 59 Dark-necked Tailorbird Orthotomus atrogularis 60 Rufous-tailed Tailorbird Orthotomus sericeus 61 Ashy Tailorbird Orthotomus ruficeps 62 Pin-striped Tit-Babbler Macronous gularis 63 Short-tailed Babbler Malcocincla malaccensis 64 White-crested Laughingthrush Garrulax leucolopus 65 Oriental White-eye Zosterops palpebrosus 66 Asian Fairy-bluebird Irena puella 67 Asian Glossy Starling Aplonis panayensis 68 Common Hill Myna Gracula religiosa 69 Javan Myna Acridotheres javanicus 70 Common Myna Acridotheres tristis 71 Oriental Magpie-Robin Copsychus saularis 72 Greater Green Leafbird Chloropsis sonnerati 73 Orange-bellied Flowerpecker Dicaeum trigonostigma 74 Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker Dicaeum cruentatum 75 Brown-throated Sunbird Anthreptes malacensis 76 Van Hasselt's Sunbird Leptocoma brasiliana 77 Copper-throated Sunbird Leptocoma calcostetha

6 78 Olive-backed Sunbird Cinnyris jugularis 79 Crimson Sunbird Aethopyga siparaja 80 Little Spiderhunter Arachnothera longirostra 81 Baya Weaver Ploceus philippinus 82 Scaly-breasted Munia Lonchura punctulata White-throated Kingfisher at Kranji Marshes. Photo Lim Kim Seng